ENT, tonsils and acid reflux

[lynnzop[$]]

I know this is in Kid's forum, but it's the only tonsils thread we have.

I've had lumps on one tonsil since at least Dec 30 and a persistent ear ache on the same side for at least that long. Finally put two and two together that they might be related (my GP says: You don't have an infection, you do have the start of an infection here's some antibiotic, you don't have an infection, and I still have PAIN) and made an appt with the ENT guy who did Jer's tubes 11 years ago.

My dread is that he's going to tell me they have to come out. My hope is that he can give me something or do something out patient to take care of whatever is going on...I hate the thought of anyone poking around back there because I know how easily they bleed and don't stop.

Why hasn't my dentist or GP ever referred me or put the two together as cause and effect????

[theworm[$]]

Lynn - do you have TMJ? When mine acts up, my tonsils swell badly. They become very red, swollen and painful, and I get horrible ear aches. No infection, but the jaw puts pressure on the ear canals and messes up everything. It really hurts terribly!

[Redlass]

Oof. Yeah, it sounds like an ENT specialist would be the way to go.

[lynnzop[$]]

I do have a bit of TMJ, but this is different and doesn't seem related. I haven't had a flare up of TMJ for a long time. These are white-ish lumps, they are called tonsil stones and in addition to irritaing the tonsils, they are hard and just sit there annoying me. I think what put me over the edge and deciding to call the ENT was because a) finally tied together the ear ache and the side of my throat that's got the lumps and b) it's been hanging around for at least three months. That CAN'T be normal.

[theworm[$]]

no it can't. And the whites spots aren't an infection? Odd. When are you seeing ENT doc?

[lynnzop[$]]

Friday. He had someone else cancel and I got to get an appt.

[theworm[$]]

good.

[lynnzop[$]]

Okay, that was like THE MOST TRAUMATIC THING I'VE EVER DONE. I literally told the doc he was "freaking me out here" when he told me he was going to put this scope thing down my nose to look at my throat.

OMG. My nasal passages must be TINY because it got stuck. I wasn't screaming, but I was whimpering. All because I have a really bad gag reflex and he couldn't look with a mirror.

Bottom line: The lumps are benign cysts that he isn't too concerned about. My tonsils are "huge" for an adult, but he doesn't think that's causing the constant sore throat or earache.

Acid reflux probably is. So now I have to take Nexium for two weeks and not drink caffiene or eat after dinner. Then I have to go back in two weeks and he'll shove that damn thing down my nose again. :shudder: "It's not worth knocking you out for" he says. I gave him The Look that meant, "it might be".

[theworm[$]]

Ick!
Now why would reflux irritate your ear? Throat I understand, but it would have to be really horrible to get into your ear, wouldn't it.
I'm so sorry you had such a pleasant day, but at least you can go home tonight drink your green bud light and forget about it!!

[Redlass]

*shiver* Oooh! I was squirming just at the thought of something going up my nose.

I'm sorry, Lynn--and sorry you have to do it again.

[emeleel]

Wormie, don't forget that your eustachian tubes end up in the back of your mouth/top of your throat. Ever had bile come up suddenly and sting your mouth? If you think about it, you'll also realize that your ears feel a little funny, too.

[theworm[$]]

hhm. Never noticed that Melanie, but I do know that when my TMJ is bad I get swollen tonsils and ear aches.

Now Lynn - these tonsil cysts - they're ok to just leave there?

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

NO CAFFEINE?! Poor thing. I hope the Nexium helps!

[pippadaisy[$]]

Ayup. Ayup. Ayup. The boys had chronic fluid in their ears from their reflux.

[lynnzop[$]]

Yeah, I just finished reading a very interesting and lengthy article online. Clearly the sore throat, ear ache and other symptoms that I have are related. It seems incredibly weird, but I'm just hoping the Nexium will solve it all.

Those tonsil cysts are just bugging me though. I KNOW they are scraping my throat. I'll ask him again when I go back if he shouldn't do SOMETHING with them...they appear not to be the tonsil stones that everyone thought they were, because those allegedly just pop off. He tried to pop these off (okay, I have a really strong gag reflex, and here comes this guy at me with a freaking DENTAL instrument. I started really freaking out at that point and thinking "what was I thinking about making this appt????") and they are attached.

:blech:

[emeleel]

That makes me want to throw up just reading it!

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

May I suggest you ask the doc for a prescription for 3 valium pills, one to be taken before your next appointment? Seriously, it may help a lot. (says the woman who needed to take them in order to actually stay in the Dentist's office long enough for the nitrus oxide to kick in)

[lynnzop[$]]

I have to go to work afterwards. so no valium for me. I seriously thought, when he told me what he was going to do and then left the room that it would be nice to have a shot of whiskey or something right about then. But that's another thing I probably should not be consuming until this is healed.

Ugh.

[theworm[$]]

Lynn - what MJ said. You need to go when someone can go with you, get a sedative and have it done. I know how hard it is - I used to have to sit on my hands so I wouldn't attack the doctors during throat cultures, and I ALWAYS ended up grabbing them and pulling their hands out (and contaminating the culture). If they are bothering you, you should let him scrape them (with medical help). You do NOT want your tonsils out at this age.

[Helen_B[$]]

Lynn, couldn't you threaten to kick the doctor really hard if he won't put you out for the scope? Too bad ENT's don't use nitrous oxide--it really kills the gag reflex.

The more I learn about reflux the more it scares me. Is there anything it doesn't effect? I'm beginning to think that reflux caused by dairy allergies was waking up #3 as infant every hour on the hour, and that it wasn't just gas cramps. He needed to be vertical.

I have to say you are all a wealth of information. My #4 got the ear tubes at one year, and always had just terrific balance. #3 got his tonsils out (but not his adenoids) at age 9, had terrible balance for years, was hard to understand as a toddler, and started learning to walk without holding onto anything at 18 months.

Just a comment about sore throats and ear problems--#4 has complained off and on for years and years about sore throats that come and go. Some clinic doc put him on Nasonex recently, and he is breathing much better and the sore throat is better too. It was the family postnasal drip. So, the poor throat is just like middle management: you get crap from the top down as well as from the bottom up.

[lynnzop[$]]

I had the posts not related to Dom's tonsils moved out of the kids forum.

Now, I have a question related to the Nexium. I have taken two pills and while I didn't have "heartburn" symptoms before, I'm having them now. And I feel like I'm on the edge of puking every minute. It doesn't help if I eat (I'm trying to do multiple small meals) and it doesn't help if I don't eat.

This is what happened the last time I took script heartburn type medicine. I'll take it through the weekend, but if it's still making me feel nautious, I'm calling doc on Monday a.m. and asking him what I should be doing.

[phoenixx]

"It's not worth knocking you out for" he says

That would be when I ask him if it is worth me knocking HIM out for when he shoves the thing up my nose without anesthesia.